Why Tinubu has barred FG Officials from traveling to the US

Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu has directed Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs to discontinue the issuance of Visa for all government officials seeking to travel to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly.

This comes as a direct effort to reduce the cost of governance, a statement that was released via his media aide, Ajuri Ngelale on Monday afternoon.

It also adds that the directive concerns those without proof of direct participation in the official schedule list for the UNGA activities.

The directive also requests the US Mission in Nigeria to guide the official visa processing while Nigeria’s Permanent Mission in New York is further direct to prevent and stop the accreditation of any government official not placed on the protocol lists in an effort to prevent any bypass by any government official seeking to manipulate the directive.

“By this directive of the President, all Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies are mandated to ensure that all officials, who are approved for inclusion in the UNGA delegation, strictly limit the number of aides and associated staff partaking in the event. Where excesses or anomalies in this regard are identified, they will be removed during the final verification process.

“The President wishes to affirm that, henceforth, government officials and government expenditure must reflect the prudence and sacrifice being made by well-meaning Nigerians across the nation,” the statement added.